P hilip Yu, University of Illinois at Chicago
Peter L. and Deborah K. Wexler Chair in Information Technology
What Philip Yu does every day makes it easier for the average person to search and retrieve information on the Web. For society at large, his research helps improve medical care and efficient energy delivery. His research happens at UIC’s College of Engineering, where Yu holds the Peter L. and Deborah K. Wexler Chair in Information Technology.
“My research leads to better management of and easier access to information and discovery of knowledge, which greatly improves the quality of daily life for ordinary people,” says Yu. “It is the endowed professorship from Peter and Deborah Wexler that is providing me the opportunity to explore this innovative research and make such an impact.”
Yu’s investiture into the chair in May 2008 celebrated the first endowed chair established at the college. As intended, the chair attracted a world-class scholar and innovator. Yu is among the top 10 most recognized computer science authors in recent years, whose research focuses on data mining, databases, privacy preserving data publishing, and multimedia systems.
“Peter and Deborah Wexler are great friends of the college and their generosity allowed us to recruit Philip Yu,” says Peter Nelson, dean of the college. “Our students and faculty will benefit immensely from his presence here, and we intend to recruit remarkable faculty like Dr. Yu with similar chairs in the future.”
Wexler earned his master’s degree in bioengineering from UIC in 1981, and was offered an entirely unique opportunity while here. “I was quite impressed with the advanced technological equipment and the talented engineering and medical experts available to me,” Wexler said. “And I could not have earned my degree without the funding I received to support my research and coursework.”
“Professor Yu has built long-term relationships with academia and industry, creating precious opportunities for our group to collaborate with high-profile colleagues from around the world,” said Yan Xie, a computer science graduate student. “I thank Peter Wexler for endowing this chair, allowing such a great scientist to join our university and bring us to the frontier of cutting-edge research. It’s been a wonderful experience for me.”
Yu holds joint appointments in the departments of Computer Science and Electrical and Computer Engineering. He earned Ph.D. and M.S. degrees in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University and an M.B.A. degree from New York University.
He holds or has applied for more than 300 U.S. patents. A present or past editor of several IEEE journals, Yu has also published more than 550 papers and has received extensive professional recognition at IBM including two IBM Outstanding Innovation Awards and the 93rd Plateau of Invention Achievement Award.
Yu’s presence greatly benefits the engineering student body, and opens new avenues of research that continue to enhance the intellectual and applied contributions of his students and UIC collaborators.